This Is Part 16 Of The "What If Yuu Didn't Want To Go Back?" Series!

This is part 16 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

"Korrak. Korrak, wake up. You're squirming. Hey, Korrak. Korrak? Grim, are you having any luck with Mandible?"

"Heeey! Myeh, no dice. Same with Korrak?"

I sigh. Korrak is writhing more than last night, and he's still out cold.

"P-please... let us... h-hide..."

Yeah, definitely a nightmare. Even if he weren't begging an unknown dream entity for help, the pained expression on his face and constant movement are dead giveaways.

We need to tell Vil and Rook. They're our housewarden and vice housewarden, not to mention upperclassmen- they're better equipped to deal with this. Unfortunately, it's early, and they likely aren't awake.

Grim and I only woke up to go to the bathroom, but this? This is too worrying to ignore.

Despite that, we'll have to until morning. We can't tell Vil until he wakes up.

Sigh. This sucks. Since yesterday, I've seen Korrak as a sort of older brother figure, and, just as any little sibling would be, I'm worried sick.

"Hey, Yuu... Do you think they're going to be okay?"

"I hope, Grim. I don't know enough to trust myself to accurately judge that, but I trust Rook and Vil to find out if they don't already know.

"We need to go back to sleep. You know Vil's going to be mad if we stay up too long."

"Yeah, I do. Should be easy enough, right? You're a cat, so you can probably go to sleep quickly, and we're familiars, so that should apply to me, too."

Grim shakes his head. "Iistening to you talk in the morning is a lot like listening to myself think."

I glance at the clock. It's two hours until we're supposed to wake up. Vil will be pissed about our inevitable lack of sleep, but what can we do? The answer is try anyway.

...The lack of sleep is visible. Neither Grim nor I got any sleep after we woke up. We went to the bathroom, but we did not rest. Our eyes did not want to stay closed, and it's showing now.

"Monseur Mystery."

I nearly shout in suprise, but appearing out of nowhere is kind of Rook's "thing," along with speaking French.

"Hey, Rook." He saw the several seconds of totally silence and shock as we processed his arrival. His face shows it.

"Come with me."

He takes us to Vil's room. When he knocks, and we hear the "come in," I nearly pass out with relief. Finally, we can tell Vil about what happened.

"Yuu, Grim- what happened? Did you stay up on your phones? Did you feel too sick to sleep? Did you have too much caffeine? Why do you look so exhausted?"

"Myeh... We woke up to go to the bathroom, but Korrak was having another nightmare, and we couldn't sleep after that."

"It was worse than last time," I add, "he was moving more and wouldn't wake up. He also kept begging some unknown entity for help. And we missed two hours of sleep."

"Oh, dear..." Vil is very clearly, very deeply concerned for us. It shows plainly on his face, and he soon maneuvers me into a chair in front of the vanity.

Rook tries to grab Grim, but there's a knock on the door before gloves meet fur.

"Come in."

Korrak opens the door. He looks even worse than me, and Mandible looks worse than Grim. I didn't even know an opossum could look so tired, but... Well, I'm not Wikipedia. I don't know everything.

When the door closes behind him, Korrak abandons his balance, and falls. Rook catches him, of course, and my lagging mind registers that Korrak hasn't seen me and Grim yet.

"What happened, Monseur Smoke?"

"I dunno." For once, the syllables slipping from Korrak's mouth are blending together. "Jus woke u-up like th-th-th-th... this." He yawns.

Poor Korrak. Seeing him like this is a little terrifying. I know he's stronger, and smarter in fights- I watched him beat up a guy a whole head taller than him just yesterday- but seeing someone that powerful, made so weak in just a night... plus, knowing he got eight hours of sleep and still has dark bags under his eyes just unsettles me. Brr.

During my think, Vil went and got another chair to place in front of his vanity. Looking into the mirror, Korrak finally notices me.

"...Hey. Something h-h-h-happen?"

"Woke up to pee and couldn't go back to sleep. You?"

He sighs. "Nothing much. I s-s-slept all night and I'm more t-t-t-t-t-tired than when I went t-t-t-t-to bed."

"That sucks."

"Y-you have no idea."

Vil has retrieved a hairbrush and two stools. One stool goes behind my chair, the other behind Korrak's. I see Vil's reflection in the mirror, right behind my own. Behind my roommates' sits that of Rook.

Rook starts brushing Mandible's fur. Vil begins brushing my hair. I relax into it, letting the gentle tugs of the bristles sway my head ever-so-slightly. It's almost hypnotic, the soft pulls on my scalp. Maybe I'm too tired to judge; maybe I'm just starved for the slightest scraps of affection; maybe my brain has been trying to sleep for over two hours and failing, but regardless of why, I allow Vil's careful strokes to lull me into closing my eyes.

"You shouldn't sleep off-schedule, but you need it. Rest, little one."

With that, I am asleep.

"Yuu. Wake up." Something soft and faint, a pressure, of sorts- oh, Vil is shaking my head. "You have to eat. Come on. I've managed your morning routine for you, okay? It's time to get up now. You need to eat."

I open my eyes. Vil's violet irises meet mine, and he smiles as softly as he speaks.

"Do you feel better now?"

I nod. I'm sleepy, still, but some things just cannot be dodged. I do feel better, though- just the slightest bit more rested. That bit will probably make all the difference today.

"Monseur Smoke. Wake up." Rook lightly taps on Korrak's head until he wakes, slowly. "There you are, Monseur Smoke. Come on, you must eat."

Korrak turns to look at me, and we make eye contact. The look is mutual; shared:

"Today is going to suck."

This is part 4 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

My bed is soft. Very soft. I don't want to leave, but I have to.

"C'mon, Yuu! We're gonna be late! Myaah, wake up! We have class!" Okay, he has a point. Being late to class on the first day would be horrible, both for our reputation and Vil's.

Mustering all my willpower, I drag myself out of the warmth and onto the cold floor. Oh, slippers! That's much better.

...Hold on.

"Grim, when did I change into my pajamas?"

"You didn't. Vil used magic to swap what you were wearing with those. He said he didn't want to wake you up." Grim beams. "I managed that trick, too! Look at me, mya-ha!"

Sure enough, Grim is wearing a white, collared button-down, a black-and-white striped tie, a purple vest that matches his magestone, and a dark grey jacket to top it all off. Worn below the collar of the button-down is the collar with his magestone, and there's a violet string-looking thing with a red stripe down the middle tied around his left front leg, held in place with a golden emblem that's carved to look like Pomefiore's crest. He has no pants, but that's pretty much what I expected.

"Your uniform's in the dresser, Grim's familiar."

"Come on, Mandible. You know his name."

...Korrak sounds exhausted! Is he not used to this kind of sleep schedule? I wouldn't be surprised. Mandible did mention that he has pilot parents, after all.

Oh, right. My uniform. Sure enough, it's in the top drawer of my nightstand, neatly folded. Looks like it has all the same parts as Grim's, plus pants, shoes, and socks. There's boxers in there, too. Better go change. Didn't I hear a sophomore mention walk-in closets at the entrance ceremony?

Yep, there's a door over by the foot of my bed. That must be the closet, which is soon revealed to be walk-in. Hey, there's a light! And a full-length mirror!

...This is probably a changing room. Oh, well. Figuring out where and how everything goes on is a walk in the park, and there's a shoe rack on my left. The only pair that seems appropriate for a regular school day are the loafers, so that's what I put on.

"Myaah, you look awesome!"

"Thanks, Grim! You wear it better, though."

"No way! We're familiars, so we both look equally awesome!"

Aww. "I'll let you have this one, Grim."

"Hey, Yuu and Grim. I've got your schedules over here. Says you're in class B. We aren't, unfortunately." Korrak frowns once he's done speaking, but I don't realize why until he pokes Mandible. "Hey, wake up. We have class too, you know."

Grim goes and gets the schedule from Korrak, and carries it back to me. Upon examination, I learn class does not start for another hour.

"Korrak, do you know why we're up this early?"

He sighs, unsuccessful thus far in his attempts to wake the exhausted opossum on his bed. "Breakfast and skincare routine. Both are mandatory in Pomefiore, and this wake-up time is recommended by our housewarden." Yeah, that explains it.

Mandible wakes at the mention of food. "Breakfast? Where?"

Korrak's face is what you'd expect from a sitcom mom. "The dorm dining room. Today it's fruit, I think."

Mandible's tiredness vanishes from his face instantaneously when Korrak says the word "fruit." Mine does the same.

I grab Grim. "C'mon, breakfast!" He does not complain.

Soon after stuffing our faces with way too much watermelon, Vil stops us in the hall.

"You fell asleep before I could give you this. All yours. Use it now. And Grim should be brushed every morning before you dress him." Vil hands me a small cardboard box that feels magically reinforced. He does not let go until I'm firmly holding it, probably because it's far heavier than it looks once he does.

"He dressed himself. Is there a cat brush in here?"

Vil nods. "There most certainly is." With that, he's gone. I set off to the room I fell asleep in last night.

There's a lot of people in here, but it still isn't hard to find an empty seat. I remove Grim's little uniform (as much as I don't want to) and begin brushing him. The process only takes a few minutes, and I use the opportunity to chat with Korrak, who's in the seat to my right.

"So, what class are you in? Grim and I are in class A."

"Me and Mandible are in class B. I hope it goes well."

The kid on my left speaks up. He has beautiful, fluffy, lavender hair and the second-prettiest blue eyes I've ever seen, in my biased-toward-Grim opinion.

"Hey, me too! What're you named?"

"Uh, Korrak. And this is Mandible. What's your name?"

I sit and return the cat brush to its spot in the box before reading the instructions for the skincare products. A few of them are for Grim, so I pull those out first- while continuing to eavesdrop, of course.

" 'S Epel! I like that there 'possum- 'Mandible', eh?"

I smile. The instructions are easier to follow than I thought they'd be, and the blooming friendship makes excellent background noise.

This is part 2 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series! The plot thickens...

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

Woah. This is... incredible.

I mean, it was incredible when I looked up and saw a fucking castle, but this? All this shiny white and gold? I feel like I'm going to be a royal's personal servant. But, this is Pomefiore dorm- and I'm in Pomefiore! Does that mean I'm the royal?

"Alright!" Vil's call for attention is met with the ceasing of the oohs and aahs in favor of all eyes on him. He looks powerful, but not in an intimidating way- rather, I feel drawn to him. Based on the body language of those around me, though, that might just be a "me and Grim" thing. The kid on my right looks meek.

"Third years, you know what to do. Second years, you do what the third years are doing. Rook, on my left. First years, I am still waiting on the list with all your names on it, so you will be placed into your dorm rooms now. Those of you with feline slash feline-adjacent familiars, stand in the circle." With magic, he draws a large, glowing blue outline of a circle on the floor to his right. I look at Grim and make our way through the crowd, my cat on my shoulder, and stand in the circle. There are nine people standing on Vil's right by the end of it, including me.

While I have Grim, there's a kid on my right with white hair, caramel skin, and an ice-blue panther-looking thing that's about as tall at the shoulder as he is at the hip. Its eyes are completely black, like ink, and it's apparently just as confused as its human.

To my left is a kid with an opossum. The 'possum has a deep blue body and tail, along with a white head that almost makes it look like the thing is wearing a skull. Its eyes are seagreen everywhere except the pupils.

Vil points at the kid on my left. "What's your name?"

"K-Korrak." The kid rolls the r as he says it.

"Alright, and what's your name?" He's pointing at me now. But, before I can stutter out my answer at the question I should've been anticipating, Grim answers for me.

"I'm Grim!" Vil does not appear as amused as he did. Grim, taking notice, adds, "and this is Yuu."

"You? I do not believe that is me."

"No, no, Yuu. Y-u-u, not y-o-u."

"Ah, okay. Yuu, Korrak, you two will be in room 109. There is a cat tree for your familiars to share and two cat beds for them to split. Here you are." He hands me a key with the Pomefiore crest on the end. Upon examining it, the number 109 is engraved on it.

"You two may now go to your dorm room and get settled in. I trust you know how to retrieve your things?" Korrak nods. Grim and I say nothing. Vil smiles, as though pleased. "Off you go, then."

Room 109 is easy to find. It's on the left, just like every other odd number, and is on the first floor. The door is huge, large enough to fit me and Korrak shoulder-to-shoulder with Korrak's familiar standing on his head, not touching the top of the doorframe.

Inside, there's two twin canopy beds, two small, blue cat beds, two pristine white nightstands, and- as promised- a cat tower, right in the middle. I take the canopy bed on the right. Korrak flops down onto his new bed, waves his magic pen, and starts unpacking the luggage he just summoned. There isn't much- just a two rolly bags and a backpack.

Korrak's familiar takes notice of my staring. "Pilot parents," it says, "everything has to fit on a plane." I nod. This new world has airplanes, too, huh?

There's a knock on the door. "Come in," Shouts the 'possum. Vil opens the door.

"Yuu, come with me. Now." I immediately approach, Grim now on my head, to follow Vil down the hall and into what looks to be a makeup department you'd see in a "behind the scenes: live-action movie" documentary.

A blonde boy I recognize as Rook is already standing there, motioning for me to sit in one of the chairs. I look to Vil for confirmation before taking the seat. Rook takes Grim off of my head, sits in the chair next to mine, and places Grim on the counter in front of him.

All Grim has time to say is, "myaah?" Before Rook pulls out a cat brush and starts brushing my familiar's fur. Grim soon settles into the comforting sensation with a continuous purrrrrr.

"Yuu. Look at me." Vil's voice draws my attention once more, and I look directly into his violet eyes. "Why the fuck is your hair this matted? When did you last brush it?"

"Uhh... good question. I'd tell you if I knew."

My answer is honest. The rage in Vil's eyes is bright like floodlights.

"Why don't you know?" I shrug. Vil's voice is low and nearly sinister- but not quite.

"Grim." Vil's head snaps toward Rook, as though daring him to speak again. "When was the last time Yuu brushed his hair?"

Grim shrugs. "I dunno. We met just before the ceremony."

The upperclassmen now appear confused, Vil more so than Rook. "You... Just met? Today?" Vil alone speaks at first, but his and Rook's voices blend together for the final word.

"Yeah, Grim wanted to enroll and broke open a coffin-box so he could have a uniform."

"Hench-Human knew my name. Somehow, I knew his. Dunno how that works, but that probably means he's my familiar, right?"

Both the blondes are stunned into silence. Rook is the first to break it.

"So, did you meet and magically bind as children, only to forget and be reunited years later as familiars?" He looks... exited now. "Beauté!"

"Probably not," I jump in, "given that I'm not from a world with magic, and can't use any myself."

Vil looks shocked. "What do you mean, you can't use magic? How in tarnation did you get a spot at Night Raven College with no magic?"

"Hell if I know. Hey, where are we? I know we're in Pomefiore dorm at Night Raven, but... geographically, where are we?"

Vil sighs. It's obvious that he never expected that question, or the lack of magic.

"Twisted Wonderland, spud. That's the broadest way I can put it."

"Okay. Broadest way I can put it, I'm from the Milky Way Galaxy."

Now he's looking at me weird.

"We are in the Twisted Galaxy's Selm system, on the specific planet 'Wonder.' People usually call our planet 'Twisted Wonderland.' With that in mind, where are you from?" Rook's elaboration gives me a better idea of what to say next.

"Earth, of the Milky Way Galaxy's Sol system. I've only really heard people call it 'Earth.'"

"Myaah, I never knew Twisted Wonderland was the name of the planet! That's so cool!"

Vil sighs and starts cutting my hair. "Let's... worry about that after we get this rat's nest off your head." Rook goes back to brushing Grim. For a moment, I allow myself to believe everything is okay. And, for the first time in my life, that feels true.

This is part 19 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

The first thing we see when we walk into the club room is that Grim and I are the only Pomefiore students. Joy.

The second thing is that guy's hair is fire, much like the inside of Grim's ears. Guess it's just a rare trait, then.

The third thing is that Fire Hair Guy is staring straight at Grim. He probably didn't know animals could have that, too. He might just be a cat person. Either way, he's a clubmate now.

"You must be the new members! Welcome! I am Azul Ashengrotto, housewarden of Octanville and manager of the Monstro Lounge, and this," He motions to the guy he's apparently supposed to be playing chess with, "Is Idia Shroud, housewarden of Ignihyde. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Fire Hair looks like he's going to explode from anxiety. He's the one sitting accross from Azul, and he looks very intently at Grim, like his presence is the one thing keeping him conscious.

"What are your names, newcomers?"

"I'm Grim, and this is my familiar, Yuu! Spelled Y-u-u, not y-o-u."

Azul now looks off-put. "Well, Grim and Yuu, we here at the Board Games club are quite glad you're here! Welcome! And, if you ever need, say, a wish, then do not hesitate to come to me."

Idia sighs. "Never go to him for a wish, kitty. He's deceptive."

"I can hear you whisper, Shroud."

"Eep!"

Right off the bat, I recall something I was told at the entrance ceremony: Azul Ashengrotto, the housewarden of Octanville, is always trying to get people to sign contracts with him. Usually, only he benefits. Grim knows this, too.

"What, did we walk into the Contracts Over an Unsused-But-Set-Up Chessboard Club? Sorry, we signed up for something else. Come on, Grim, let's go find the club where they actually play chess."

"I'm back! Oh? New clubmates? Sweet!"

...looks like floating is another rare trait. This new kid has the same blue fire hair as Idia, as well as equally yellow eyes. He looks to be wearing some kind of jet boots, which he deactivates when he enters the room to oogle at Grim.

"A cat! Aww, your fur looks so soft and silky- and you have a uniform! By the seven, you're adorable!"

Grim straightens up, puffing out his chest and looking very proud. I do the same- after all, he's my familiar.

"Ortho, there's no need to be so close to our new members. Personal space, you know."

Well, now Grim just looks annoyed.

"Myeh, Azul, you have something on your face."

"This?" He points to a little black dot near his lips. "That is supposed to be there."

"Not what I meant," Grim continues, "the wire. Were you born into a fence or something?"

Ortho bursts out laughing. Idia does the same. Azul does not follow suit, but does try to talk, failing miserably become everyone in the room but him is too busy laughing their asses off to hear him.

Idia finishes laughing, pulls out a game labeled "Cliffs & Climbs," and sets it up, motioning for Ortho, me, and Grim to join. Azul continues failing to explain glasses to a cat who's ignoring him while people laugh at the obvious ragebait he's fallen for.

"I heard the whole thing from down the hall. Nice to meet you! I'm Ortho Shroud, freshman and Ignihyde's Vice Housewarden, as well as Idy's little brother. This character is mine."

Just looking at the board, it's a game of Snakes and Ladders. Ortho has selected a small, wooden flame to represent himself. Grim and I choose the cat, obviously. Idia considers for a moment, then picks the thimble that probably didn't come with the game. He flips it open-side-up when he puts it on the board, and Ortho glares at him until he sets it so you can't see the opening from above.

Let the board games begin.

This is part 9 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

Lunch was going to be mostly sushi, but Vil went out of his way to make sure everyone is eating a balanced diet, so there's a salad, too. Grim doesn't seem to like it, but I have dressing, so the two of us eat it anyway.

"You know, one of the Heartslabyuls in our class was talking about how they have an 'unbirthday party' coming up. Apparently, their housewarden is bored, so they're throwing a huge party just because." Mandible finishes talking and takes a huge (for his size) bite of romaine. Evidently, he and Korrak are the type to eat salads one ingredient at a time.

"Wow. Ain't them folks based on bein' strict? Parties're fer havin' fun! Bet their party'll be real borin'." Epel, on the other hand, adds as much blue cheese as Vil will let him get away with and douses the whole thing in ranch.

"You know, our class has two Heartslabyuls who sit right in front of us in history. One of them is pretty chaotic." Grim attempts to lick the dressing off of a leaf and put it back in the bowl, but I shoot him a look and he begrudgingly eats it.

"That doesn't mean it's going to be fun to attend, Grim. Fun to watch? Absolutely." Having eaten all of his romaine, Mandible nabs a decently-sized chunk of blue cheese and starts turning it over in his paws.

"Small bite-ts, Mandible." Since this morning, Korrak has been talking more. He does so slowly and quietly, and doesn't say many words with the "t" sound in them. When he does, it's often a word like "nettle," where the "t" sound can be safely ignored or pronounced like "d" without anyone noticing his stutter. I'm glad he has the confidence to speak in a room full of people- chances are, we have Vil to thank.

That also explains why Mandible does most of the talking. Pretty clever fix, if I'm being honest. Also, it seems like Pomefiore is way more familiar-based than the other dorms. Not only do we seem to have more familiars than the other dorms, but Pomefiore also provides uniforms for them, and is the only dorm that does. It doesn't cost extra, either.

Ah, well. After lunch is over, we have a biology class, followed by an art course and then a lesson on improvised engineering, my favorite class. Apparently, it's a "joint class," which concerns me, as using my joints too much makes them sore.

"Hey, Yuu, do you have a joint class t-today?" I've noticed Korrak doesn't stutter on the "m," "k," "n," "a," "d," "i," "b," or "l" sounds. I think that's because they're all in his and Mandible's names.

"Yeah."

"Do you know w-what that is?"

"Nope."

Epel's face brightens. "I do! Got one later t'day."

"Myaah, really? What class?"

"MacGyvering. Pr'tty damn good skill, ain't it?"

"Not on our schedule."

"Epel... Our join-t class is Improv-vised Engineering."

"Yeah, yeah, they c'n call it by whatever th' fancy fuckin' shit they feel like, but I'm tellin' ya, that righ' there's a class 'n MacGyvering."

"Epel, language."

"Ack! Vil!"

...Okay, maybe the fact that I have to actively not laugh at the sight of a terrified Epel sitting right in front of an upright, clearly displeased Vil means I'm going to hell, but can you really blame me? There has to be a foot and a half of height difference between them, and Epel's face is priceless.

"Repeat that sentence without swearing."

"Uhh... they can call that whatever th' heck they wanna, but that doesn't mean it ain't a class on MacGyvering."

"Your word choice is on thin ice, but that is an improvement." Vil leaves.

"Um... S-so, Epel, are you any g-good at MacGyvering?"

The concern instantly evaporates from Epel's face. "You betcha sweet biscuits, I am! Back at th' farm, ya don't jus' fix things, ya MacGyver 'em. Ev'ry shed's got a hinge held t'gether by a dow'l, or a nail, or sum'thi'n else. 'M pretty good at it, 'f I say so myself."

"So... MacGyvering is just using whatever to fix stuff? Sounds easy enough."

Epel laughs. "That ain't all it's about. MacGyvering's 'bout comin' up wit' creative fixes to stuff. Y'know, shit most city folk jus' don't consider."

"Epel."

"Um, solutions most city folk jus' don't consider."

Vil nods. "Perfect!"

"Uh, class is st-t-tarting soon. We should leave."

"Oh, shit, Korrak's right!"

"Yuu. Try that again."

"Oh, fuck, we have five minutes!"

"Without swearing!"

"Myaah, we need to go right now!"

"Yuu, not Grim."

"We're gonna be late!"

Vil sighs. "I'll accept that, but you are on thin ice. Now, hurry."

Disobeying him now would be a death sentence, so off we go!

Biology was pretty interesting. From what I can tell- aka Trein starting class with, "the only reason you have this is because most schools don't clear up the local misconceptions about other species-" the only reason we have this class is because most schools don't clear up the local misconceptions about other species.

Time flies when you're having fun, though, so we are soon off to health class- which is boring, honestly. Trappola actually fell asleep there, and Deuce had to wake him.

And then, it comes. The long-awaited MacGyvering class, taught by Crewel.

Turns out: "joint class" means "multiple classes, one lesson!" We just so happen to be going with class B, so this'll be fun.

It's here that Grim and I learn Trappola has apparently never seen an opossum before.

"Huh. That's cool." Trappola says stuff is "cool" a lot. That probably means it caught his eye more than anything else.

"Myeeh? What is? The fact that we have multiple friends in the same dorm as us?"

That gets the present Pomefiores to snicker for a while, much to Trappola's evident disdain.

"No. I meant the fact that you," he points at Grim, "are friends with a rat," he points at Mandible. "I just find that weird.

For a solid minute, all six of us are staring at a very confused redhead.

"Dude," Mandible starts, "I'm an opossum."

Trappola stands there, mouth open and eyes darting around, for a couple of seconds.

"Oh."

Crewel walks in, voice booming as always. "Hello, pups! Today, we will be continuing our course on using basic tools for unintended uses. To begin, you should have a group of up to five, but you may work alone if you please. Now, you need to locate the person in your group who is the most responsible and have him raise his hand." We pick Korrak.

This is part 18 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

"Well, it's not my fault!"

"Of course not! Ace, nobody intentionally trips and falls on the stairs before the big tournament. Why would it be your fault?"

"Well, Deuce, just because I accidentally fell on the stairs doesn't mean I meant to sleep through my alarm and forget my school bag!"

"Myaah? Ace really screwed himself over this time!"

"Shut your trap, Grim!"

"Ace, be nice. Besides, you could've gone and gotten your stuff before class started. Why didn't you?"

He appears momentarily stunned, then resumes his previous attitude. "Shove it somewhere else! I'm not in the mood!"

"Ace! Don't yell at Yuu!"

Ace just flips him off. Trein, of course, walks in right when he does that- in clear view of the door.

"Trappola, detention."

Ace just groans.

The rest of class is quiet and it's easy to focus, right until the end. I notice instantly: when Ace puts his weight onto his right foot, he winces.

Grim and I share a look. Something is going on here. Luckily, we need only a few seconds of walking to determine a few details.

"Hey, Ace, does your right ankle need an ice pack, or were you using magic to keep it cold?"

He stops dead in his tracks and turns to face us, eyes wide with shock.

"Ace? Ace, are you okay?"

"Leave him be, Deuce. Ace, Yuu and I can take ya to the nurse if you want. Seriously, you need an ice pack on that."

"Ace," Deuce's voice is serious now, "did you get hurt on the stairs?"

"N-no, I'm-"

"Ace, that's serious! You could have a sprain! Come on, I'll carry you!"

"Hey, wait! Deuce, you don't have to- woah!"

With that, they're gone, Ace thrown over Deuce's shoulder like a sack of rice.

I smile. Ace is often a hindering factor during alchemy, so it's nice to toss him to the wind for a period or five. Plus, we're helping- he can't get mad at us for that!

Besides, if he's going to be mad, he's going to be mad at Deuce. He's the one who's carrying him like he's a burlap sack of potatoes.

Alchemy is boring, exept for the part when we told Crewel why Ace and Deuce weren't with us and the line "so Deuce threw him over his shoulders like a pillowcase full of cotton" made him laugh.

P.E. involves Deuce returning with two notes to Vargas: one for Deuce himself, and one for Ace. On the bright side, Vargas is rather distracted, and class is easy.

At lunch, we learn something new.

"Yeah, all them weekends're no class 'fter th' firs' one. Anyways, th' Spelldrive tournament's startin' up t'day! Jus' th' interdorm one, 'course, but'chall git th' idea, don't'cha?"

Oh, yeah, we have club activities today. Hopefully, the board games club has other Pomefiore students.

"Hey, you know what happened today? Ace showed up with an injury and no schoolbag. You should've seen Deuce toss him over one shoulder and run off with him; it was hilarious."

"Never seen anything like it, mya-ha!"

"Kinda odd, th-the decision of replacing our last th-three classes w-with clubs f-for the day... Meh."

I zone out and miss the rest of the conversation. My mind is too busy to pay attention- I'm remembering. Remembering how Korrak was exhausted on day one. Remembering how Mandible said "Pilot parents" but Korrak said he had nobody but Mandible, Grim and I just days later.

He seemed so small then. So scared, like he wasn't used to new places or people. But, if he did have pilot parents, shouldn't he be very used to all that?

This roommate is a mystery- and I am a male Nancy Drew with magic and a cat. In spirit, at the very least.